1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the field of subscription television terminal equipment and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing an on-screen user interface for a subscription television terminal.
2. Description of Relevant Art
In the field of television terminal equipment generally, it is now known to provide a user of such equipment with control over many features never before available. For example, one commercially available television set known in the art provides a sophisticated remote control device for controlling such features as picture-in-picture, wake-up alarm, sleep timing, skip timing and predetermined time channel tuning. An on-screen menu is displayed upon actuation of a "set up" key of a key pad of the remote control device for setting the terminal in a predetermined desired condition to provide these features. Repeated actuation of the "set up" key moves a cursor comprising a right-pointing arrow through choices presented on three different menus. A user selects an item from the menu by leaving the menu screen in a particular state. For example, for one on-screen display, a user is presented with a choice among two items, TV/ANT or CABLE, indicated by a right-pointing arrow pointing to both choices. By using a multi-function "level+" or "level-" key, the user toggles the type of television tuning between cable and broadcast television. The selected choice appears in "red" color.
A new purchaser setting up this television receiver in their home is often shocked when they connect their new set to their antenna and they are unable to tune to UHF broadcast stations, because their new television receiver is preset at the factory to "cable" tuning. It may take the new owner hours before they are able to understand how to "set-up" their new television through repeated reference to their "operating instructions" or repeated calls to their salesman.
One feature available with this known television set is a sleep timer feature. Many television viewers watch late night television and find themselves falling asleep without turning off their televisions. They may be awakened, for example, by the sounds of test signals broadcast by a television station going off the air at an early morning hour resulting in a fitful, restless sleep. The sleep timer is a feature whereby a late night viewer may be assured that their television set will be automatically turned off after a predetermined period of time. There is a requirement in the art to implement such a feature in a subscription television terminal so that owners of television sets not having this feature may still enjoy the feature if they subscribe to cable services.
In the field of video cassette recorders (VCR), one commercially available VCR known in the art provides a similar on-screen menu with enumerated selections. A key labeled "program" is provided to enter or exit a menu system. The user actuates a number-labeled key corresponding to a numbered selection to enter the next menu or submenu.
Another known VCR operates in a similar manner. Yet, this VCR provides on screen prompts or instructions for operating modes, other than an event programming mode. In other words, user friendly instructions are provided with each menu screen displayed to assist the users through the menu selection process. Theoretically, a user having the on-screen instructions will not have to refer to an instruction manual for guidance through the menu selection process.
Yet another known VCR provides a cursor access method to access menu items to be selected. Keys for menu entry and selection of choices are identified with Menu, Select, Set+, and Set- labels. The Set keys are used for identifying an item to be selected as well as for other user functions. However, this use of the same keys for multiple functions confuses the user of the remote control. Users often find themselves paging through instruction manuals trying to locate how they can safely escape from the menu semen they find themselves in without jeopardizing the initialization of features they think they have already determined.
In a cursor method of selection, three methods are known in the art of VCR programming for indicating which of a series of menu items is available for selection: blinking the numbers for each item, providing a dot next to the item for selection, or providing an arrow pointing to the right, the arrow being located next to the item to be selected. For example, one known VCR with cursor control causes the numbers to blink next to the choice for selection.
In the art of subscription television terminals, sometimes referred to herein as set top terminals, the development of user on-screen initialization of the terminal has paralleled the television receiver and VCR fields. According to Lee R. Johnson et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,185, incorporated herein by reference thereto, a terminal in a closed circuit television system of a hotel or hospital is remotely configured using a hand-held remote control. Keys of the keyboard such as channel up and channel down indicators are used for channel selection and other functions as well as during terminal set-up or initialization.
For example, according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,185, incorporated herein by reference, the channel up and channel down indicators are used in this system to toggle between a switched and non-switched condition of a power outlet and/or to and from an interlaced screen condition. Furthermore, according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,554, incorporated herein by reference thereto, the channel up key is used in this same sytem for quitting either a parental control or a preminum channel menu structure. The parental control/premium channel feature disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,554 permits a hotel guest to arrange for parental guidance control over premium channel movies delivered to hotel rooms. In a manner similar to the operation of one known VCR, a user uses digit-labeled keys to actuate numbered choices on a displayed menu.
In the Scientific-Atlanta brand Model 8590 cable television terminal, labels such as A U, RCL, and SEL are used for keys for feature selection such as to recall channels. While abbreviated key labels are useful and to some extent friendly to a user, it may not be particularly obvious to the user, for example, that RCL stands for recall or how the "recall" function key is to be used.
Consequently, the features that may be provided by a subscription television terminal have increased greatly. In the field of subscription television terminals and with the advent of optical fiber networks and links to telecommunications networks, there is no end to the types and qualities of features which may be provided by such terminals. Already, subscription television terminals are being used for addressed message transmission, pay-per-view, favorite channel memory, program timing, parental guidance, and terminal control or set-up features. Home shopping, travel reservations service, home banking, energy management, video conferencing and other such services, which may be accomplished in the future over a cable television network, are only limited by the imagination.
Generally, there remains a need in the art to provide a more user friendly interface for any such services accessible through a limited number of keys or related means for data input of a subscription television terminal. The user friendly interface should not be confusing to the user. To the contrary, the interface should be easier to operate and not require reference to a user manual for instruction.